Fellow Vandersteen Owners

.....Sorry, I should have said "significant other" rather than wife. But still best of luck.

I have owned several pair of Vandersteen speakers, I agree with Garfish, please do not modify the 3A, it will ruin the sound! I know Richard Vandersteen, and he is a brilliant designer, the speaker is constructed the way it is for sonic reasons. I also agree that if you cannot live with the appearance, go look for something else, as Garfish says. The only other possibility, is "hiding" the Vandersteens with a (Japanese?) screen or other decorative item, remove the screen or cover and place in another area when listening. I know it still shows when the music plays, but for musical wallpaper sound, it could possibly be left in place until serious music begins. This solution would allow you to hold on to the Vandersteens, which are excellent speakers.

I suggest you actually phone Vandersteen Audio and ask Rick. I have called them 3 times in the last few years and always got to talk to Rick (or his son, I think). Just ask for technical support. Anyhow, when the model 3 was first introduced, Rick was showing it at a high-end shop in Palo Alto and I remember him telling a story about how the prototype did not have the frame and fabric, just the functional units and [really!] he said his wife complained about how ugly that was, so he designed the "open" frame/fabric to hide the stuff. I'll bet anything you can take that off! Call and ask them.

Hi Mg123 & Mark; I have no doubt that you could remove the corner dowels and cover fabric of your 3As but what you would have is "80 lbs. of ugly", so that is not the point. Rather, Mark would like to add his own cabinetry-- an exercise fraught with peril (IMHO) (for the 3A and its sound quality).

Thanks guys. I do have access to a cabinet shop and a guy who actually makes very fancy speaker cabinets with beautiful veneers for a living. my thought was to just remove the top piece and corner dowls, then veneer the WHOLE thing, except the fronts of the upper driver cabinets with the felt.has anyone seen this done or done it themselves? thanks. P.S. I'm a carpenter/contractor myself.